Reply To: The Climate Emergency
Researchers at Stanford University and Colorado State University found that 1.5C of warming over industrial levels will probably be crossed in the next decade.
And a nearly 70% chance that the two-degree threshold would be crossed between 2044 and 2065, even if emissions rapidly decline.
The difference between 1.5C and 2C results in twice the amount of lost habitat for plants and three times the amount for insects.
Heatwaves will become more severe and more common, occurring 5.6 times more often at the 2C benchmark, with roughly 1bn people facing a greater potential of fatal fusions of humidity and heat.
Some regions warm faster than others and the effects from global heating won’t unfold equally. The highest toll is already being felt by those who are more vulnerable and less affluent and the devastating divisions are only expected to sharpen.
“Net-zero pledges are often framed around achieving the Paris Agreement 1.5C goal,” he added. “Our results suggest that those ambitious pledges might be needed to avoid 2C.”